Plans for a national ID card scheme risk changing the relationship between the British state and its citizens, the information watchdog has warned.

Richard Thomas said he had initially greeted the plans with “healthy scepticism” but the details had changed his view to “increasing alarm”.

One cogent point Thomas makes is that the scheme is not just about handing out cards to the population but about creating a detailed centralised database on every person in the country:

Mr Thomas told the MPs: “This is beginning to represent a really significant sea change in the relationship between state and every individual in this country.”

It was now clear the scheme was not just about identity cards but about a national identity register, he said.

“It is not just about citizens having a piece of plastic to identify themselves.

“It’s about the amount, the nature of the information held about every citizen and how that’s going to be used in a wide range of activities.”

Quite. The scheme is about creating the necessary apparatus for the government to keep tabs on us 24/7. And the government certainly seems keen on creating detailed databases of all and sundry when legislating in other policy areas.